Heater for gaseous media



Jan. 4, 1938. H. KOPPERS 2,104,201

HEATER FOR GASEOUS MEDIA Filed Sept. 3, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 PatentedJan. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES 2,104,201 HEATER FOR GASEO'US MEDIA HeinrichKoppers, Essen, Germany, assignor, by mesne assignments, to KoppersCompany, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationSeptember 3, 1936, Serial No. 99,326

In Germany September 4, 1935 3 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in tower-like regenerators orheaters for heating-up gaseous media, for instance air or combustiblegases, also known as Cowpers, and especially to improvements for suchheaters which are provided with a dome-like ceiling inside the interiorof which the refractory lining of the side walls can expand freely inupward direction.

With known heaters of this type, the domelike ceiling rests upon aring-shaped, vertical base, which base is fixed by a rectangular jointto the upper end of the substantially cylindrical casing of the heaterand which is supported by means of brackets or in any other suitable wayto said casing. g

It is frequently found, that when operating such heaters, the heatercasing is subjected to vast destructions so that the casing will becomeleaky I and the valuable gases escape. Especially it is found, that thering-shaped, vertical base of the dome-like ceiling and the cylindricalheater casing become loose at their joining line. When investigatingthese detrimental facts, which often make the heater entirely uselesseven after a short time, I found that the destructions in question maybe traced to the uneven expansion of the dome-like ceiling base. On theone hand, that part of the ring-shaped platform; which is adjacent tothe cylindrical heater casing, is heatedup higher than the outer zone ofthe platform by the flow of heat passing through the refractory liningof the heater, and on the other hand said inner zone Ila of thering-shaped platform is least affected by the cold air flowing along theoutside of the heater and more affected by radiant heat from inside theheater than the outer zone I lb. Therefore, the inner zone of thering-shaped platform is brought much easier to and in operation isunder. a higher operating temperature than the outer platform zone. Theplatform being of refractory brick, the expansion and contraction of theinner portion is unequal relative to the outer portion, so that theouter portion resists the greater expansion and contraction of the innerportion causing cracking and crumbling of the platform. On account ofthis, the platform will soon be distorted and finally be torn-off theupper edge of the heater casing. Besides, any distortions of theringshaped base are detrimental with regard to the tightness of therefractory lining for the domelike ceiling. The refractory dome becomesloose and tumbles down, on account of the different position of thebase.

The principal object of my invention is to make such improvements toknown gas heaters of this type in which the inner and outer zones of theplatform may expand and contract independently of each other and of thelining they support, and in which the refractory lining of thecylindrical "side of the conical base in panying drawings. drawingsshows a vertical secheater casing can expand freely relative to theinterior of the dome-like ceiling, which is supported on a ring-shapedplatform or base, that any damages to the ring-shaped base forsupporting the dome-like ceiling are avoided.

'My invention essentially consists in that the base of the heater domeis arranged in form of a cone, which extends slantingly upwards from thecylindrical heater casing, the refractory lining of the dome-likeceiling being supported on a conical base for expansion independently ofthe refractory lining of the cylindrical casing. Furthermore, theinvention provides for ledges or other suitable projections, tobe'arrangedat the upper such a manner, that said projections prevent theabutment of the refractory lining from sliding downwards.

Still further objects of my invention maybe taken from the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment of my invention, which I willexplain in particular on the lines of the accom- Figure 1 of the tionand partly a side view of the heater, according to my invention.

. ingand the cylindrical part of the heater casing.

On these drawings, I stands for the substantially cylindrical part ofthe heater interior, the casing of which is lined with brickwork 2,consisting of refractory material. In the interior, the heater isprovided with a suitable heat carrier for instance, a checkerwork 3,consisting of refractory material or the like.

The gases to be heated-up enter the heater for instance by means of thepipeline 4 and pass then through a suitable channel, arranged inside theheater, not shown on these drawings) up to the dome-like ceiling. Thenthe gases flow downwards through the checkerwork 3, whereby they take upheat from the checkerwork, which was previously highly heated. Finally,the heated gases leave the heater through the pipeline 5. After thetemperature of the heaterhas been lowered, the checkerwork is heatedagain in a suitable manner, for instance by leading hot combustion gasesthrough the heater.

The space between the refractory lining 2 and. the casing I, whichconsists of sheet metal plates or any other suitable material, is filledup with an elastic heat insulating material 6 (see Figure 2) so that therefractory lining can expand when.

is held in its proper position by supports 8, mounted on casing I.

The casing 9 of the cone-like heater is similarly connected to theconical part I by welding 9'.

To the inner part of the conical part 1, there are welded as at l0several ring-shaped ledges l0, against which fit the bottom bricks H ofthe ceiling lining I 2 in such manner, that the bricks ll cannot slideofi the inclined base part 1. Advantageously, the ring shaped platformformed of bricks II are, as shown, constituted as separate inner andouter annular sections I la and I lb separate from each other and fromthe refractory lining of the ceiling they support, for expansion andcontraction of each of said sections independently of each other and ofthe lining they support so that the inner section I la may undergo agreater degree of expansion and contraction than the outer section Ilb.Advantageously a small space 2 is provided between the bricks II and theupper layers of the brickwork 2, in order that latter may expand freelyin the interior of the dome-like ceiling when being heated-up to theoperating temperature. The space between the ceiling lining I2 and thedome-like casing 9 is filled-up with a lining of an elastical heat insulating material, for instance with asbestos wool I3 which extendsdownwardly under the supports ll. Therefore, the refractory lining l2may expand freely in the dome-like casing 9, without damaging thelatter.

Instead of the ledges I0, other means may be provided for preventing thebricks II from sliding down along the conical part 1 against thebrickwork 2. If the inclination of the conical part I is only a slightone, the special means for holding the supporting bricks of the ceilinglining in proper position may be dispensed with. I

My invention is of special advantage for those gas heaters, which are tobe operated at high temperatures for instance in the so-called two-Cowper system for blast furnaces. The two- Cowper system has manyadvantages compared with the usual arrangement of three Cowpers, whichare heated up in one period and which are subsequently used in anotherworking period for heating-up the blast. Moreover, the two-Cowper systemcould not achieve success in practice up to the present time,notwithstanding its recognized advantages, as the known type of gasheaters (Cowpers) could not be operated at such high workingtemperatures as are necessary in the two-Cowper system. The heateraccording to my invention now may be operated to any high temperature,limited of course by the duration of the refractoriness of the brickwork, lining the heater casing, and no leakages will occur in the heatercasing. The heater according to my present invention may be used forother purposes as well as the one described herein. a

I have above described my present invention along the lines of apreferred embodiment thereof, but my invention limited in all itsaspects to the mode of carrying it out as described and shown, since theinvention may be variously embodied within the scope of the followingclaims.

I claim:-

' 1'. A tower-like heater for gaseous media comprising a substantiallycylindrical heater casing with a refractory brickwork inner lining and adome-like ceiling casing with a refractory brickwork lining connectedwith the heater casing $0 that the brickwork lining of the heater casingmay project into the interior of the ceiling, said tower-like heatercomprising a ring shaped base for supporting the refractory lining ofthe ceiling and separable therefrom for expansion independently thereof,the brickwork lining of. the dome-ceiling being supported on said baseindependently of the brickwork lining of the heater casing, and the ringshaped base being supported on the heater casing independently of thebrickwork lining of the heater casing so that the upper part of .therefractory lining of the cylindrical heater that projects into theceiling may expand and contract freely of the dome-like ceiling liningand its supporting base into the interior of the ceiling.

2. A tower-like heater for gaseous media comprising a substantiallycylindrical heater casing with a refractory brickwork inner lining and adome-like ceiling casing with a refractory brickwork lining connectedwith the heater. casing so that the brickwork lining of the heatercasing may project into the interior of the ceiling, said tower-likeheater comprising a ring shaped base for supporting the'refractorylining of the ceiling and separable therefrom for expansionindependently thereof, said base being inclined at its lower partupwardly and outwardly from the heater casing, the brickwork lining ofthe domelike ceiling being supported on said base independently of thebrickwork lining of the heater casing, and the ring shaped base beingsupported on the heater casing independently of the brickwork lining ofthe heater casing so that the upper part of the refractory lining of thecylindrical heater that projects into the ceiling may expand andcontract freely of the dome-like ceiling lining and its supporting baseinto the interior of the ceiling, said base being supported by acorrespondingly inclined portion of the casing, and projections on theinner side thereof engageable in recesses in the bottom of the base tohold the base in proper position relative to the refractory lining ofthe heater casing.

3. A tower-like heater for gaseous media comprising a substantiallycylindrical heater casing with a refractory brickwork inner lining and adome-like ceiling casing with a refractory brickwork lining connectedwith the heater casing so that the brickwork lining of the heater casingmay project into the interior of the ceiling, said tower-like heatercomprising a. ring shaped base for supportingthe refractory lining ofthe ceiling and separable therefrom for expansion independently thereof,the brickwork lining of the dome-like ceiling being supported on saidbase independently of the brickwork lining of the heater casing, and thering shaped base being supported on the heater casing independently ofthe brickwork lining of the heater casing so that the upper part of therefractory lining of the cylindrical heater that projects into theceiling may expand and contract freely of the dome-like ceiling liningand its supporting base into the interior of the ceiling, said ringshaped base comprising separate inner and outer annular sectionsseparable from each other and from the refractory lining of the ceilingthey support for expansion and contraction of each of said sectionsindependently of each other and of the lining they support.

HEINRICH KOPPERS.

